Why Chris Dawson’s family thinks Ivan Milat could have killed Lyn

Chris Dawson’s brother Peter has made a chilling suggestion that an infamous serial killer could be responsible for his former wife Lyn’s death.

Chris Dawson’s family has made a bombshell suggestion about who might be responsible for the presumed death of his first wife, Lyn.

Mr Dawson’s family previously claimed Ms Dawson ran away in 1982 but now his twin brother Peter has made a chilling suggestion she was murdered by serial killer Ivan Milat, 7 News reports.

“Milat … is alleged to have killed several women around the same time and in an area Lyn was seen,” Peter Dawson told 7 News in a written statement.

Peter pointed out that Milat’s victims were hitchhikers and “Lyn didn’t drive”.

7 News reports Peter sent the network a list of missing women named in coronial inquests as possible victims of Milat, suggesting Ms Dawson could be too.

Chris Dawson appeared in court for the first time on Thursday but didn’t apply for bail and it was formally refused.

The former Newtown Jets star will have a chance to apply for bail on a charge of murdering Lyn when he appears in court on Friday.

He will plead not guilty, according to his legal team.

But Clive Small, former assistant police commissioner who led the Milat investigation, said suggestions the serial killer could be responsible did not fit Ms Dawson’s case.

“I would suggest (the chance is) very much next to zero,” he told 7 News.

Mr Small said Milat kept souvenirs from his victims but there were none for Ms Dawson.

Milat also picked up victims from the Liverpool area and he said there was no suggestion Ms Dawson was in that area.

READ MORE: Strange world of the Dawson twins

Backpacker murderer Ivan Milat who was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of seven people.

Milat’s reign of terror lasted four years — between 1989 and 1993 — when seven young people vanished and their bodies, shot or strangled, were found in the Belanglo Forest.

Mr Dawson’s family reportedly told 7 News they were worried about his wellbeing in Silverwater prison but suggestions he could harm himself were incorrect because he intended to fight the charges.

The father-of-three has always maintained his innocence in relation to the suspected murder of Lyn Dawson in 1982. He has repeatedly claimed that she left their Bayview family home, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and their two children, of her own accord to join a religious cult.

Mr Dawson’s teenage lover, Joanne Curtis, moved in to the northern beaches house two days later. Ms Dawson’s body has never been found.

Mr Dawson’s lawyer Greg Walsh told reporters last week he was aware of at least one other case when a mother went missing and was living a new life.

The case he was referring to involved a member of Mr Dawson’s extended family — the former mother-in-law of Peter walked out on her three children in Sydney 60 years ago.

The woman secretly moved to New Zealand and remarried and died in 2002.

Chris Dawson escorted by NSW Police detectives as he arrived in Sydney. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

There is no suggestion that Chris Dawson had anything to do with the disappearance of his brother’s mother-in-law.

Mr Walsh said it showed it was possible for someone to disappear “it does happen”.

“It’s happened before,” he said.

Peter has previously suggested Mrs Dawson could have gone to New Zealand.

“We don’t know where Lyn is. I hope she is living happily somewhere in the world,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Walsh said there was evidence that Ms Dawson “was observed by a number of people” after her 1982 disappearance.

“Unfortunately two of those people are deceased,” he said. “One of the witnesses who died, her daughter gave evidence at the second inquest, and she said that ‘my mother told me (and) if she was here today, she’d say she saw Lyn Dawson after her disappearance’.

“Another witness also gave evidence to that effect.”

Chris Dawson with his wife Lyn on their wedding day. Lynnette went missing in 1982 when she was 34.

Two coronial inquests, between 2001 and 2003, found that Ms Dawson was murdered by her husband, but he was not charged, with the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions ruling there was insufficient evidence.

The major breakthrough in the cold case follows revelations in The Australian’s The Teacher’s Pet podcast series.

Investigative journalist Hedley Thomas uncovered two new witness statements, which police indicated would be part of their new brief of evidence.

Mr Dawson’s matter was adjourned to Friday when will apply for bail. He will remain behind bars until then.